Thank you all for your support...it helps so much. The surgery to remove the skin sounds promising and hopefully one day I can have that but I don't think a size 12 is small enough to have it removed...I still have ways to go. There seems to be a lot of fat caught in the excess skin still. I read my post again and I almost sound conceited lol...I'm obviously not. What I meant to say is people compliment me like I'm someone gorgeous and if they seen the real me I don't believe I would have received such compliments...I feel like a liar and I have never been a dishonest person yet if you have the opportunity to look presentable it seems ridiculous not to.

Thanks Again!

Congrats on your weight loss success! Own it and appreciate all you have accomplished and how strong you are, everyday. I lost 97 lbs and consulted several PS. I found one by accident and his web site blew me away. Over 300 TTs and all his work. I consulted with him and knew this is the man who will perform my surgery, <when I have saved the $10K >. That said, I was 180 lbs and a size 12 when I consulted him and he assured me that the surgery could be performed at that point and still be successful. I am 142 now but my BF is still 22.5. Normal, but I have met with some figure and bikini pros (yes, they are extreme so I don't make comparisons or srtive to be them) and all have said that the flab, inclduing the loose skin aroung my belly, can still tighten up more but the fat that is still there needs to go as the skin won't tighten. So my focus is more on reducing the BF more, not the lbs. Still lots of strength training (real weight, not 5 lb DBs) and more HIIT cardio, to see what happens. Lots of ab work, like hanging leg raises, weighted crunches, cable crunches, to build that muscle. I have also increased my calories so no extreme dieting-I've been at a caloric deficit for so long that I need to recomp my body and that might mean some initial gains (it actually did at first but it slowly came back down). I have worked hard to gain the muscle I have and I have no intention of sacrificing it. Not like I'm having the surgery tomorrow so I have the time to invest and it won't hurt in the end.
As to the possibility of rejection, I just posted a reply to someone else re: Male attention. I can remember being rejected when I was 140 lbs in my 20's-not fat or overweight, and being considered too fat by some. Did it matter? No, my life went on just fine, self esteem a little bruised but intact. Did it stay with me? You bet it did! So I am even more retiscent now, after having gained almost 100 lbs and carried that around for a decade, and then losing it and looking in the mirror and thinking "would I be attracted to that?" Distorted thinking, I know and we are definitely are own worse enemies, hypercritcial, but we can't help it sometimes. I then look up and see how amazing my upper body looks and what I have been able to accomplish there-full, cut biceps, sculpted shoulders and a great back. And my a*s?! I went on a mission to sculpt the best booty I could, even if it was larger, it will be round and firm. And it's working! So it's accepting the good with the bad and eventually taking that leap-head first (so to speak) clothes off, lights on. Easier said and hopefully that first one post-weight loss won't be a total a**hole as so many have reported having encountered. Good luck-would love to hear how things progress for you.